January is Hard

Claire Keegan can help. Plus new prompt.

Winter in the Berkshires.

January is the oddest month. (This January is odder than the previous four.) It’s the letdown/relief/tenderness after holidays coinciding with the push to “manifest” for the new year. Too much has to be done in January—everything on the to-do list crossed off before the 31^st.

I’m aware, this particular January, of too many causes for distress. The California wildfires, first off, which I can’t comprehend, no matter how many apocalyptic images I see. “Odd” isn’t the right word. Terrifying. I live on the opposite coast, but it doesn’t feel far away. Our county in Massachusetts had a taste of wildfire weeks ago, and that was scary enough. Here’s one thing that can help, if you are able:

At home, our Christmas tree is still up, our menorah still out. There’s something depressing and dogged about this. It’s time to move on and yet I can’t, because January is also a month of personal mourning. January contains the days of my father’s birth and death. He passed away i…